Affirmative Action Critical Thinkings Samples For Students

Americans have a long and troubled relationship with race, and a similarly troubled history when it comes to discussing race. Many contend that America is now a post-racial society-- indeed, a biracial man has achieved the highest office possible in the nation. However, research suggests that racism and privilege has not disappeared in the United States, it has merely taken on new forms and now wears a different guise.
Affirmative action is a type of public policy that is designed to circumvent the disadvantages that minority individuals have traditionally felt in American society-- often, affirmative action policies are put in place to ensure that ...

American is supposed to be the land of dreams where anything is possible. At least this is what is implied on the base of the Statue of Liberty While America provides countless opportunities for its citizens many still argue that it is unequal. By exploring the concept of affirmative action, one can gain a better understand of how racism affects business in a negative fashion.

What is Affirmative Action?

Affirmative action is defined as, “means positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been historically excluded.”(Steele & Fullwinder).Racism also contributes ...

The case of Johnson v Santa Clara Transportation Agency is one of the seminal decisions relating to employment discrimination and affirmative action plans. A background of the circumstances attending the institution of the case is important in this respect. In the year 1978, the defendant in this case voluntarily adopted an Affirmative Action Plan for hiring and promotion of women. The plan provided among other things, that while making promotions senior roles within traditionally segregated job categories where women had been marginalized, the Agency was permitted to consider the sex of the applicants as a factor for consideration in such ...

Summary

Historically, American conservatism has often embraced their central themes such as anti-communism and freedom movements even beyond their boundaries (West 73). However, American conservatives have strongly resisted a proactive enhancement of the Black American civil rights movement as a sincere freedom movement that fully need their support. Cornel West believed that, like a new black conservative, he had a response to the crisis of liberalism that was in Afro-Americans (West 74. However, he faced stiff resistance from Glenn Loury in particular who wanted to distance himself from mainstream conservatism.
In chapter 4, Cornel examines the root of black conservatism, ...

What happens when we base ethical certainties on contingent social norms?

The ethical issues associated with affirmative action and race are highly intractable. The reason for this is that they affect the individual and the collective in a way that may alter their course of life. A university may deny admission to a student because of its affirmative action policy and the student may feel wronged. The feeling may be shared by the race or a social group the student belongs to. Additionally, these issues have become complicated as legal and constitutional questions are entangled with them.
If ethical certainties are based on contingent social norms, it may not be ...

Introduction

Relations between the U.S. federal government and African American and Latino communities have always between an important concern both for governmental politics, and African American and Latino leadership. The important role in federal politics belongs to considering African American and Latino community issues. Relevant policies are also being implemented at the state level in close cooperation with advocacy organizations. Differences in political agendas of African American and Latino leadership call forth considerable difficulties for federal government, which looks forward to running unified policies in terms of its relations with minorities. Furthermore, topicality of addressing the differences under study stems ...

One of the problems in society has been the fact that racism is widespread and has a deeply felt impact on almost every ethnic group. Not only are minorities discriminated against but women as well. Certain people have gotten enough preferential treatment that women and minorities are either excluded from the workplace entirely, or at subjugated to lesser jobs or just lower wages for the same jobs. Affirmative Action was an act passed with the intention of correcting this injustice, allowing women and minorities to take their proper place in the educational and professional environments.
One of the first ...

In your opinion, how does the principle of separation between church and state compare in theory and in practice in the United States? Provide specific examples.
The Establishment Clause was aimed at prohibiting state sponsored religion leading to the doctrine of separation of church and state. Thomas Jefferson referred for the first time this separation as “wall of separation between Church and State.” This principle is a unique American vision. As far as the interpretation and meaning of Establishment clause is concerned, there are three major theories.
According to the strict separation theory, the religion and state should ...

Social inequality, despite the rampant advances in social justice in the past few decades, remains high in both school (particularly in the university level) and in the workplace. Social inequality can take place in many forms, but can be defined as a distinct difference in privileges and opportunities (whether social, political or economical) between different groups of people. Deindustrialization has led to rampant social issues within the inner city communities of America. The changing economy and deindustrialization led to higher wages, more time spent working for lower pay, and decreased leisure time; this has affected total income between people of ...

Section 1: Theoretical Perspectives

1) This is something a structural functionalist would say. In structural functionalism, a convoluted system is created that establishes patterns of behavior and attitudes that contribute to its continued existence. In this example, the relationship between individuals and consumption is discussed, as people consuming at the level they are entirely determines just how the system is upheld. If people want to change that system, they have to change their conceptual role in the structure, and find a way to change the structure to keep it stable. If people want to consume fewer products, they have to find a way to make sure that ...

Both Nathan Glazer, in “The Emergence of an American Ethnic Pattern”, and Ronald Takaki, in “Reflections on Racial Patterns in America”, argue that racism has been an enduring legacy of the United States, dating back more than 200 years or more, at least to the Colonial Era and the American Revolution. Both Glazer and Takaki aver that early colonists were threatened by the immigration of other peoples, as well as the assimilation of natives, to the newly-formed United States of America. Thus, strides towards the melding of different cultures into one nation were hampered by both fear and prejudice. ...

Sonia Sotomayor

Sonia Sotomayor became the first Hispanic Supreme Court Justice in August 2009, and the third female justice in the history of the Supreme Court (Greene, 14). This is a remarkable feat by any standards, and as she recounts in her book, My Beloved World, the journey to the Supreme Court was not easy. The book recounts her childhood, growing up in the projects in Bronx, through school, and through her career up until her appointment to the Supreme Court. Though one would expect a book by a person of her stature to contain jurisprudential and philosophical views, the book does not contain ...

Part 1

Personal work ethics are the rules one sets for him/herself that will dictate his/her attitude towards work (Goodwin, 2007, p.55). I believe that work is a fundamental aspect that has led to the development of our society and the world in general. Without it the world we are living in has undergone massive transformation due to the work people do. Even though work is an act that is initiated from within an individual factors such as educational background and culture have great influence on how people will perceive work. People from a society which view work as a blessing and leads to ...

I concur with the argument in relation to reverse discrimination. This, in my view, is one of the flipsides of affirmative action. It is not justifiable or at least at this juncture, to wholesomely reject affirmative action. Nonetheless, sufficient evidence suffices to show that some qualified and competent employees lost opportunities because they belong to the majority. This has especially affected the White men seeking employment opportunities. As noted in the discussion, it is imperative to follow the letter and spirit of Title VII. To that extent, discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and or national origin should ...